At a risk of sounding ignorant and absolutely stupid..... what is the war in Iraq actually about now?

Question

What is the actually reason for people dying and bombs being dropped?
- At first i thought it was because of weapons of mass destruction but now i'm not sure. Is it sometihng to do with oil or terrorism?

Thank you x

Answer 1

You want to know, and I admire that.

There were lots of good reasons to knock Saddam Hussein out of power. The reasons don't CHANGE.

Here's a comparison: If a cop thinks you have a gun and that you're dangerous and arrests you, and it turns out you don't have a gun, but you're still nutso, then the fact that you don't actually have a gun doesn't make it a bad idea to arrest you.

Saddam Hussein was an unbelievably brutal dictator, torturing and murdering THOUSANDS of his own people, and he attacked several neighboring nations. His own people tried to rise up against him, but they were slaughterd. The UN tried to control him, but they failed.

He did have Weapons of Mass Destruction, since he USED THEM years ago. EVERYBODY thought he still had them before we invaded in 2003. I don't understand people now who say that wasn't a factor. Were these people willing to ASSUME that he didn't still have WMDs??

It wasn't oil. If we wanted the oil, we woulda purchased it. Duh! Other countries were, like France, Germany, Russia, China. As if oil isn't important? How do you run your car, heat your house, light your house?

The Global War on Terror is based on the idea that dictatorships cause terrorism. Dictatorships can twist their actual societies so that young people think being a suicide-bomber is a good thing. You don't get that kind of thinking in a free society. Read Natan Sharansky's book, "The Case for Democracy."

By toppling dictatorships, we may inspire more oppressed people to rise up against their dictators. Or we may inspire dictators to stop being so brutal. Or we may have to invade more countries. I haven't heard a better way to stop international terrorism.

When Iraq is free and secure, we'll leave Iraq. It may take many years, as it did after World War Two in Germany and in Japan.

The way to get the truth is to seek multiple sources of news. But forget about TV news, that's all nonsense, just surface-stuff, no depth, too much Britney Spears on TV news. Try the New York Times, try Townhall.com, try talk radio. Get lots of different points of view and decide.

Answer 2

It was because GW Bush and his dog thought that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It was a false prospectus that was offered as proof of this because there weren't any to be found.

So most reasonable people assume that because Iraq has vast reserves of oil which keeps the American economy going and to install a puppet government in Iraq would ensure a cheap supply of oil. The plan worked well at first as the Iraqi army did not put up much resistance. They probably thought if no WMD was found the western troops would go away. Wrong.

So the resistance of foreign fighters, Ex Iraqi army types and various others started fighting the foreign troops. Saddam was hanged because the Bush charade had to be kept up.

But reasonable and peaceable western types are angry that a viable country has been destroyed because a rogue American President does not want to pay the going rate for oil.

Answer 3

There really are some stupid Bubbas on here, looking at some of the answers. The only reason there is still bombs, death and murder in Iraq today is because of muslims. Sunni and Shia muslims killing each other. Allied forces are just there to provide security where possible.

It is muslims killing muslims. To me that isn't such a bad thing, but it will become a civil war on a big scale if it isn't sorted out.

Answer 4

You don't sound at all stupid, I think even Blair is wondering that right now! We were told five years ago that we had to go to war because there are terrorists that want to kill us all and who have enough nuclears to nuke us five times over (there were protests but then the london bombings happened - rather conveniently - and so we all shut up a bit) After the newspapers found out that there are no nuclear bombs then the war became something we had to do to free the oppressed civilians.
Funnily enough, WM D's were a big (GIVEN) reason why we charged in, despite us having no evidence. North Korea does have nukes. They've tested them disregarding every other country's warnings not to and we don't invade. Not much oil in Korea you see, and they have a better army then Iraq.
So yep, they have oil and we're running out!

Answer 5

The war that's going on now is basically on two fronts:

Firstly, the insurgency against the allied powers by numerous internal and external fighters for numerous reasons, and secondly, the ethnic cleansing of Baghdad by Sunni and Shia factions. This is obviously a gross over-simplification of the situation, but they are the main areas of combat. If you want to ask why the allied troops are still there to be shot at, that's a whole different set of problems...

Answer 6

The original purpose of going to war in Iraq, was as you say, to seek out and destroy weapons of mass destruction, WMDs.

UN inspectors found no WMDs.

Geo.w.Bvsh wanted to establish a democracy in Iraq etc.

The Brits will probably start pulling out in c2008.

Answer 7

Actually what it is about now is getting the new elected Iraqi government on their feet and having the country to be able to take care of themselves. There are factions in the area that don't want this and will do anything to prevent it from happening. We are there to is that the Iraqi people have that chance of freedom that we have provided them. It wasn't because of WND, though we did find some but not what we were looking for, it was terrorist but not now! As soon as we get the Government on their feet we'll be out, probably 2008. People here in America have become a fast food quick fix society. They have forgotten how long it took to rebuild Japan or Germany. This is coming from a father of an Army Sgt that did two tours in the sand box...my tours were in Vietnam!

Answer 8

It was about supposed weapons of mass destruction. Now It seems to be a weapons testing ground.

Answer 9

Does 9/11 ring a bell? Our country was attacked by terrorists. These terrorists were being helped by Saddam Hussein. He was easy to find, and the U.S. has already caught a lot of the others. They have not found Bin Laden yet, but he can't hide forever. Try to imagine your mother worked as a secretary in one of the towers. After the planes hit, she couldn't get out. The office was burning so she went to the window. Try to imagine what kind of hell she must have been facing that caused her to make the decision to jump from 75 floors up. Your loyalty and concern should be for the victims of your own country. It's alright to have compassion for the innocent victims of war, but our country didn't start it. Try to remember that the next time you ask questions about Iraq.

Answer 10

Actually thats not such a stupid question at all. The reasons (read excuses) keep changing to...To start with it was WMD, then oil, then "The War Against Terrorism" (T.W.A.T), then civil unrest, then (Iraqi ) national security...and so on and so forth.